Hella Bitter

With all the organic spirits we’ve been reviewing at the Organic Wine Journal lately, it was only a matter of time before we had to start resourcing some bitters to take our cocktails to the next level. As luck would have it, we randomly ran into the guys from Hella Bitters – three friends who co-founded the company in 2010 and make their products in New York City.

They make two different types of bitters – a citrus and an aromatic – and sell them in stores like Whole Foods and Crate & Barrel, as well as on their website: www.hellabitters.com. If you’re ready to have your home bar go from good to extraordinary, this is what you need to arm yourself with.

Are they organic? – well, not yet. We’re talking to them about that. But they’re carefully sourcing all their ingredients, and we all know where that road leads. We’re going to be doing some cocktails with these guys in the future, but in the meantime, here’s some photos from our visit to their bitter-making lair.

The Hella Bitter Team at their facility.

Jomaree Pinkard – “Coach”

Eduardo Simeon – “Mission Control”

Tobin Ludwig – “Tastemaster”

Man-size cinnamon sticks.

The team is constantly experimenting with new recipes.

A new blend to try out.

Rose hips. No idea what they are, but they look pretty.

Two super-secret test batches of bacon bitters – one in whiskey. I’ve pre-ordered the entire run of that, so you can have the one on the left.

The wood that puts the bitter in bitters.

Tobin prepares a new batch to test.

The heavily guarded R&D board. They said it was ok to share it, but not the full Wi-Fi password in the bottom right.